49ers hit field running this year, with an edge

Jim Harbaugh got the boys back together this past week, and it was an impressive sight.

There was a decided confidence and swagger surrounding the 49ers as they gathered in Santa Clara for some light workouts. Scanning the field, you could see marquee NFL players at most every position. What used to be a tense workplace, run by taskmasters Mike Singletary and Mike Nolan, has turned into a professional football factory.

It’s still remarkable to think what CEO Jed York, GM Trent Baalke and Harbaugh have achieved in such a short time. The sounds of a new stadium being built across the street rattle around the 49ers’ practice facility, intermingling with the sounds of a solid team being built on the field.

The assembled weapons of San Francisco’s offense could be seen running under long throws from newcomer Josh Johnson, quarterback-in-waiting Colin Kaepernick and incumbent Alex Smith. There was Randy Moss, hauling in a 50-yard bomb. There was Kyle Williams, trying to run down a Johnson heave and exclaiming, “God, he’s got an arm!” Michael Crabtree and Moss could be heard jabbering across the field. And Vernon Davis was in the middle of it all, reminding everyone that he is the man. Wait until rookies A.J. Jenkins and LaMichael James and veteran Brandon Jacobs join this crew.

The offensive linemen were off to the side, pushing the sled and looking massive. Mike Iupati, in particular, stood out as a giant among giants. He has cut his hair, tightened up his upper body and looks every bit the Pro Bowler. Starting tackle Joe Staley looked loose and fit, alternating between goofing off and pounding the sled. And Alex Boone, the team’s swing tackle the past two seasons, was taking reps at right guard, a position that’s his for the taking. Boone, 6-feet-8, 302 pounds, later told us he needs to put on 20 pounds to withstand the hand-to-hand rigors of playing guard. Can you imagine that?

Across the way, the defensive linemen were involved in a unique drill, new to camp this year. They had boxing gloves on and were pounding away at targets held up by their coaches. There was Isaac Sopoaga, the enormous 330-pound tackle, pounding the pads. There was Ray McDonald doing the same.

But it wasn’t until Justin Smith stepped into the ring that everyone stopped and turned around. The Missouri monster, in his 12th year, starting popping the gloves with jabs and hooks in rapid succession, creating a sound that echoed across the field. It was like watching Mark McGwire take batting practice back in the day. It made a different sound than everyone else.

Over with the d-backs, balls were flying and players were yapping. At one point, you could see Donte Whitner drop down to the ground and knock out 20 quick pushups, showing the veteran drive that has made him an undisputed team leader.

And in the middle of it all was Harbaugh, running up and down the field with the players, barking orders and generally looking as if it was Christmas morning. You couldn’t imagine anyone loving football practice more than Harbaugh.

And you couldn’t imagine coming into this season with more confidence than the San Francisco 49ers have. What that season will hold is anyone’s guess. But for now, it feels as though no one’s got it better than the 49ers.

Trending teams: Indeed, confidence is the coin of the realm in sport.

It is an infectious, contagious currency that spreads among a team with little warning and disappears quickly.

Take the Giants and A’s. The Giants had confidence and lost it. The A’s didn’t see their confidence coming until it was already in their wallets.

So it is that our two baseball franchises sit, one month and change into a season teetering between prosperity and failure.

They have nearly identical records. But there is little question which team’s confidence is ascending and which team’s is descending.

The Giants, the recent champions with the popular address, find themselves struggling to gain confidence. Their clubhouse has been stripped of most of its championship leadership. Uribe, Ross, Burrell, Renteria, Sanchez, Wilson, Sandoval. Names all gone or on the shelf. Only the core of the rotation, Buster Posey and Aubrey Huff remain among the regulars from the swaggering bunch that took the title in 2010. And Huff’s confidence is at an all-time low.

The A’s, the longtime doormats with the empty house, have suddenly emerged as the fun-loving, risk-taking team, injected with newfound confidence. Manager Bob Melvin has harnessed a young group of pitchers and position players and put together a team reeking with good vibes. Utilizing his chief talent, Billy Beane sprinkled on a layer of cheap veteran talent to hold it all together.

Insiders say Jonny Gomes is the key to the A’s swagger, repeating the trick he turned with the Tampa Bay Rays a few years back, promising that a team that had just lost 100 games would make the following postseason. He has said the same about his new squad. Brandon Inge landed in Oakland and started spreading his veteran leadership almost as quickly as he launched a pair of grand slams. Bartolo Colon, he of the large waist and steady countenance, is the jolly giant of the bunch.

As we look ahead to next weekend’s Bay Bridge Series, which team do you have more confidence in?

Lott’s loyalties: Ronnie Lott and Rick Neuheisel behind the mike.

That’s what football fans will hear during the Pac-12 Network’s inaugural voyage this fall.

Lott sounds particularly enthusiastic about his new TV gig, calling it a “dream come true.”

And he certainly brings a unique perspective to the California rivalries that lie at the heart of the conference.

Lott played football (and basketball) at USC before heading north and forging his pro legend and postseason home in the Bay Area.

Can he leave those loyalties behind when he takes to the booth? Lott says he won’t even try.

“You gotta be open about it,” said Lott of his Trojan roots. “But being here in Northern California for the past 20 years, there’s a little piece of you that says there’s something about (Stanford football coach) David Shaw that you really like.

“I gotta believe, if I had to say something good about him, I’d say he’s a helluva football coach. That might not be something Lane Kiffin might want to hear right now. But the truth is the truth.”

The Pac-12 Network will televise approximately 350 live events nationally, including 35 football games, more than 100 men’s basketball games, 40 women’s basketball games and hundreds of Olympic sports.

The network, which recently moved into the same office building as Comcast SportsNet in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, is expected to start announcing its programming grid in the next two weeks.